Nearly 21 years after the Green Bay Packers faced one of the defining coaching decisions in franchise history, Sean Payton says he believed the job was headed his way.
Payton, now the head coach in Denver, revisited the 2006 hiring cycle during a recent interview on Jason Garrett’s “Coach2Coach” show and revealed how closely he was watching Green Bay while simultaneously interviewing with the New Orleans Saints.
“I’m a midwesterner, and I think I’m getting that job,” Payton said. “I kept checking the phone for the Green Bay area code.”
Instead, late Packers general manager Ted Thompson delivered the call Payton did not want. Green Bay chose Mike McCarthy, sending Payton toward New Orleans and creating two coaching tenures that would eventually produce championships.
Payton Says Packers Were His Preferred Destination
Green Bay’s opening came after Thompson fired Mike Sherman following a 4-12 season in 2005. The Packers’ own history of the transition describes an “intensive nine-day search” before McCarthy was selected as the franchise’s 14th head coach.
Payton was firmly in the mix. Sports Illustrated later reported that Thompson brought several candidates through the process, including Payton and McCarthy, and that the decision ultimately came down to the two offensive coaches.
Payton’s latest recollection makes clear where his mind was during the process.
He said he immediately liked Saints general manager Mickey Loomis when he arrived in New Orleans, but he remained focused on Green Bay.
“I thought, ‘This is his problem,’” Payton recalled. “I kept checking the phone for the Green Bay area code.”
The setting hardly helped New Orleans’ pitch.
The city was recovering from Hurricane Katrina, and Payton recalled the difficulty of recruiting assistants to join a rebuilding organization. He told one story about driving a prospective staff member to the Senior Bowl, only for the coach to eventually tell him, “I love you, but there’s no way I’m taking this job.”
Then came the message from Thompson regarding the Packers job.
“They’re going in a different direction,” Payton recalled. “And I threw the phone into the pillow.”
Packers’ Choice Created One of NFL’s Great What-Ifs
Thompson officially named McCarthy Green Bay’s head coach on Jan. 12, 2006. The Packers said at the time that Thompson was drawn to McCarthy’s leadership, toughness, football knowledge and familiarity with the organization.
Six days later, the Saints hired Payton.
The divergent paths turned Thompson’s decision into a fascinating what-if, even though both organizations received the payoff they wanted. McCarthy’s first Packers team finished 8-8 before jumping to 13-3 and reaching the NFC Championship Game in 2007. His Green Bay tenure ultimately lasted 13 seasons, included nine playoff appearances and produced a Super Bowl XLV championship.
Payton’s turnaround was even more rapid.
New Orleans went from 3-13 before his arrival to 10-6 in his first season, winning the NFC South and reaching the NFC Championship Game. Three years later, Payton led the Saints to their first Super Bowl title.
Green Bay didn’t merely consider a future championship coach; according to Payton, he was waiting for the call and believed the job was his to land.
The Packers instead trusted McCarthy, who had previously worked in Green Bay as quarterbacks coach in 1999. Thompson later said McCarthy’s leadership and fit separated him during the process.
Payton ended up turning the job he initially viewed with iffiness into the defining stop of his career.
Sean Payton Drops 20-Year Packers Revelation: ‘I Think I’m Getting That Job’